Two words - OUTDOOR SHOWER

Ok - my first reaction when hearing the ME house we are thinking of renting had an outdoor shower was NO WAY! But do I really want to be such a wimp...I'm thinking yes! I'm also thinking of my sensory defensive son who hates showers and my daughter who hates cold. Then I'm thinking it will be something they will think is hiliarious and will remember forever. What really killed the idea was it's relative distance from everything else. Our kids just aren't at the age where they will curl up with a good book for the morning or something. Also, I cannot image us at a house that has a dock...I think I would return from vaction with a facial tick after accounting for my children while looking for them floating in the water around the house a million times a day.

How to name a blog?

I have to credit my friend "Mrs. B" with the name of the blog...
It goes like this...my family had been traveling quite a bit over the past year or so, which was no small feat considering my son with autism (and other complicating factors) and my three year old daughter, who is not shy about expressing her opinions. We had traveled to Puerto Rico twice, Baltimore (which included a hospital stay for my daughter), New Orleans, Texas, NYC and DisneyWorld (2x). Some of this was for work and we took the kids, some family stuff and some was just for "fun".

It was November and I was staring down the barrel of a trip to Key West to scatter my mom's ashes. I just couldn't bear the thought of this trip. Aside from the emotional implications - I was just fried from traveling. We had been tightening the grips on my son's diet and therapies, working more, starting yet another business...I couldn't take one...more...thing! I was sharing my dread of this trip with "Mrs. B" and she said "I can see it now - kids in tow going through security with 200 frozen gluten free pancakes and that huge silver urn filled with your mom's ashes. All I can say is 'Hello Gitmo'!" And the blog title was born. I was actually going to call it "200 Frozen Gluten Free Pancakes And My Mother's Earthly Remains" but c'mon - that's a bit much...I'm saving that for my book.

BTW, I bowed out of the key west trip. My sister was feeling exactly the same way - and now look. Things are so screwed with the economy we can probably get a GREAT deal on that trip now.

Tests

We have more testing kits sitting around this house than most doctor's offices - I'm pretty sure that's true. Poop tests, pee tests (2 kinds), blood tests, water testing kits, etc. I guess it's just par for the course in many households these days, especially autism families.

My friend, Donna, has jokingly remarked to her husband to sleep on your back at our house and NEVER eat out of the refrigerator without checking first...referring to the supplements given during our son's sleep or the "biohazard" tests stored in the fridge waiting for FedEx.

I remember prepping for our first set of these tests...reading and re-reading the directions. Oh the confusion - write the name and date? fill how high? Refrigerate? Freeze? Visa/MC? Insurance - HA! Now it's become so second nature that every time my son moves his bowels without the assistance of an enema or suppository my first thought is - "do I have a kit that I need a sample for?"...

He is more present...

It's funny but I'm noticing little things about how he looks up when we walk in the room; says hello to people when they walk in or he walks in (unprompted), comments unsolicited on what we are saying or doing...wonderful, wonderful things. But with the good comes...uh...more work. He is more easily bored and gets edgy if left to his own devices - even with the computer - for too long. He NEEDS interaction with us. He needs help playing. He wants to tell you things - but with 40% intelligibility with speech but the thoughts and ideas of a 6 year old...it gets tricky sometimes --- especially considering he becomes easily frustrated these days when he can't get his point across. But it's all moving in the right direction...